Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 2026)

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

19,012 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 876 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 16) 55.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

From This Moment On

October.

Sat 17: SunOrbitUs @ Culture House, Sunderland. 11:00am - 5:00pm. Closing event in a year-long piece of music. 11:00am-1:00pm Improvisation workshop w. Faye MacCalman; 2:00-5:00pm Collective Improvised Performance by Sunderland residents. SOLD OUT!
Sat 17: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 17: Martin Taylor @ Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £48.72; £43.37. Solo guitar. SOLD OUT!

Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Jump jive.
Sun 18: Guisborough Big Band @ Redcar Rugby Club. 5:00-8:00pm. ‘Charity Big Band Birthday Bash’ in aid of Parkinson’s UK & Young Sounds UK. Free (donations on the door).
Sun 18: Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £23.30. Solo guitar.
Sun 18: Ben Crosland Quartet with Steve Waterman @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Pete Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Tue 20: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Head, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Tickets from Tully’s, Rothbury. Coquetdale Jazz. Note change of venue.
Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Scotty Adair.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: FILM: Blue Moon @ Washington Arts Centre. 1:00pm. £4.50 (inc. bf). Biopic of lyricist Lorenz Hart.
Wed 21: De'Sean Jones’ Urban Art Orchestra @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00.; £5.00. student, unwaged; free to Mercury Awards ticket holders. De'Sean Jones (tenor sax, EWI); Tjoe Man Cheung (guitar); Mikele Montolli (double bass) + others TBA.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 21: Roby Glod-Steve Sewell Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Thu 22: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 22: Mercury Prize @ Utility Arena Newcastle. 8:00pm. £60.25.; £48.75. Line-up inc. Knats.
Thu 22: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bandstand!, Exhibition Park, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.20 (inc. bf) via Instagram. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Thu 22: Olly Styles Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.75.

Fri 23: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ The Lit & Phil. 1:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Emma Fisk’s Hot Club du Nord @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Maja Bugge & Dave Evans @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Fri 23: Knats @ King Street Social Club, North Shields. 7:00pm. £17.00., £14.70., £11.30., £5.50. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.
Fri 23: Sara Oschlag & Arnie Somogyi w. Ben Lawrence @ Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (keyboards); Arnie Somogyi (double bass).
Fri 23: Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook @ Redhills, Durham. 8:00pm. James Pearson (piano); Sam Burgess (double bass); Chris Higginbottom (drums); Alex Garnett (sax); Polly Gibbons (vocals). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: SwanNek + Jacob Egglestone @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 9:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.

Tuesday, March 03, 2020

Great North Big Band Jazz Festival 2020: Schools Section (Day 3) - Mar 1

(Review by Russell)

For some, day three at this year's Great North Big Band Jazz Festival dawned early. A workshop session for aspiring musicians made full use of the generous stage at Park View Community Centre and that was long before the competitive action got under way at eleven o'clock. Sunday is all about young musicians being part of a large ensemble, reading charts and, in some cases, taking a deep breath before standing up in front of a crowd of big band fans to take a solo. It promised to be quite a day!

At the appointed hour (11:00am) the splendidly named Haberdashers' Abraham Darby Senior Jazz Band (Conductor Tom Gledhill) took to the stage ready to begin the Schools Section. It's quite a commitment to make rehearsal sessions year round, it's a bigger commitment still to then travel a distance to compete at a festival in Chester le Street, County Durham, especially when you're based in Telford, Shropshire. Win, lose or draw, that's some effort! Kris Berg bases himself in Texas, leads bands (at the Montreux Jazz Festival and elsewhere) and writes charts for luminaries such as Kurt Elling, Wayne Bergeron and Delfeayo Marsalis. How fantastic that Berg's Fowl Play opened Abraham Darby's programme (featuring soloist Alyssa Lowe, tenor saxophone, one of ten females in an eleven-strong saxophone section)! Dave Volpe's arrangement of Body and Soul (Catherine Vellacott's alto sax solo) and the ubiquitous Gordon Gordon Goodwin (Crunchy Frog) rounded off a fine ensemble performance.  

Egglescliffe School Big Band (Conductor Matthew Haworth) travelled a considerably shorter distance given that the school is located in the Stockton on Tees area. One or two of Jambone's number and a current NYJO student trumpeter were in the line-up to perform a Hefti/Nestico set - Strike up the Band, Jumpin' at the Woodside, Cute, Splanky and Sweet Georgia Brown. Egglescliffe is known for developing young musicians and on this evidence the 2020 cohort is shaping up nicely. 

It had been some years since St Aidan's Swing Band (MD Vicki Elliott) last competed at the GNBBJF. On one of those previous visits the Harrogate school band walked away with the silverware - from memory an amazing performance of a (Wynton?) Marsalis chart belied their years. Would today's orchestra have anything as good in its locker? A knockout trumpet section, a programme including It Don't Mean a Thing and an unlikely Frankenstein (Edgar Broughton's big chart hit!) featuring a tremendous duel between drummers Ollie Anslow and Oscar Gray brought the house down!

Darlington's Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College Big Band (Director Steve McGarvie) presented an eclectic yet familiar programme ranging from St Louis Blues to Freddie Freeloader to that man again, Gordon Goodwin (Count Bubba) and a sparkling finale featuring guitarist Archie Kidd's razor-sharp fusion solo on Jeff Jarvis' Critical Mass. A good set.

Last but by no means least, Dave Hignett's young charges rattled through half a dozen pieces. Tyne Valley Jazz Ensemble (Conductor Dave Hignett) performed with energy and commitment. A fun finale - Tequila - required audience participation with MD Hignett explaining that members of the ensemble didn't know anything about it...Tequila, that is! All together now... Tequila!

And so to the results. The stage rearranged, adjudicators Mick Donnelly and Marcus Brown took up their places alongside Kenneth Howe (Durham Bede Rotary Club) ready to be photographed with the lucky winners. Festival Director Bil Watson announced the results. The long journey had been worthwhile, the winning band, all the way from Shropshire...Haberdashers' Abraham Darby Senior Jazz Band!
             
GNBBJF 2020 - Schools Section:

Best Band: Haberdashers' Abraham Darby Senior Jazz Band

Best Soloist: Archie Kidd, guitar (Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College Big Band)

Best Section: Trumpets (St Aidan's Swing Band)

Adjudicators' Award: William Woods, drums (Haberdashers' Abraham Darby Senior Jazz Band)

Adjudicators' Award: Ollie Anslow, drums & Oscar Gray, drums (St Aidan's Swing Band) see photo.

Russell
at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive